


Patience brings its own rewards

by Marcus_S



Series: Arya Stark's Multiverse [14]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV), Game of Thrones RPF
Genre: Bouncy boobies - Freeform, F/M, Family Lineage, First Time, Fluff, Happy Ending, Honey Cakes, Pregnancy, Rubbing belly buttons - Freeform, Worries about pregnancy - Freeform, discreet sex, romantic sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-15 08:41:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29805801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marcus_S/pseuds/Marcus_S
Summary: Follow up to Chapter 1 of ‘I only want Arya to be loved’.
Relationships: Robert "Sweetrobin" Arryn/Arya Stark
Series: Arya Stark's Multiverse [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1779334
Kudos: 2





	1. The Wedding night

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn’t leave them like that, it’s not long, it’s not dramatic, but you get closure. I’ve posted Chapter 1 again here in case you haven’t read it before.
> 
> The characters are the property GRR Martin the story remains © Marcus Stanson 2021

Arya Stark had sailed once round the world; disappointingly there was nothing West of the Sunset Sea except Essos so she keep going and came home. She was greeted on the quayside in King’s Landing by her siblings, Bran with a smug look on his face that said, ‘I knew it all along’ and Sansa with that grim look that said she was going to go all ‘Queen of the North’ on Arya. In the time it had taken to get round the world Arya had definitely grown up, in that while she was still only five feet and an inch she had mentally and physically matured. She therefore wasn’t over happy when Sansa’s first words were “Since we heard you were on your way home we’ve been talking and it’s time you stopped fooling about like a child. The Starks need an heir and in time you’re going to provide one”.

Arya’s first instinct was to go straight back to the boat and tell the skipper to cast off and go back round the other way, but the honest truth was she was sick of salt pork and pickled cabbage, sick of emptying her bowels and bladder into a bucket that might slide sideways if the ship heeled suddenly, sick of the endless vulgar comments of the crew, particularly the lecherous old man who skippered the vessel; in fact sick of everything that meant going to sea, so she faced her sister “Do I get to pick my husband”.

Sansa turned to Bran, “You see she still hasn’t grown up”. She turned back to Arya “Don’t be infantile; Bran and I have discussed the political options and I must say you’ve done yourself no favours staying away. Gendry Baratheon was clearly the best choice, the man even cared about you; but you abandoned him so he’s married Meera Reed and she’s given him a son already, with another child visibly on the way”.

That stopped Arya in her tracks, somewhere in her mind had been the idea that if the worse came to the worse she could always marry Gendry; if only Sandor had survived the fall of the Red Keep. Ah well she’d tried and failed, better face the medicine. “So who do I get; understand if he can’t behave himself I’ll knife him, I’m not taking any of the shit you put up with Sansa. My husband needs to understand that I can do forcible penetration as well as any man and it would probably be fatal”. She saw Sansa wince, she shouldn’t really have said that but she was angry and she was going to have to co-operate with her siblings so, “I’m sorry Sansa that came out wrong, but cut to the chase are we going to be playing ‘Welcome to my castle’ on my wedding night or ‘Monsters and maidens’ followed by ‘Hide the treasure’.

Brans face twisted into another of his slightly sick smiles, “It’s interesting that you should refer to children’s games Arya as I believe your groom is keen on ‘Welcome to my castle’.

Gods she hated Bran at most cryptic “Are you using that as a euphemism to tell me he prefers something in him, a man’s man”.

Bran just smiled; Sansa replied for him “No Arya, well I don’t think so, it’s complicated and I don’t really want to discuss it on the dockside. Can we go back to the Red Keep where it’s more comfortable and more private”.

Arya gave a resigned sigh “Lead on then”.

\------------------------------------------------

“Robert Arryn, but he’s barely breeched. Last time I saw him he was sucking on his mother’s teat”.

Bran had left Sansa the unenviable task of explaining the details to Arya having just told her “Trust me this is a good option in the long run”.

Sansa’s face continued to say she didn’t see Arya viewing it that way. “Well let’s start with the first advantage of that to you, it will be years before he wants to consummate the marriage”.

“It will be years before he _can_ consummate the marriage”.

“Exactly, so as long as you’re discreet, you can do whatever it is you want to do for quite a while yet. Secondly he will be in your hands you can mould him into the man you want him to be, it won’t be hard”.

“No, once he starts to mature and his brain goes down between his legs I’m sure he’ll turn into a typical Lord of Westeros”.

“Well that’s your challenge”.

Arya took another long draught of the wine, she was painfully aware that she would be drunk and have a monstrous hangover before the morning was out, but at this point she didn’t really care. “All right, forget the politics that means you and Bran think this is the way it goes, tell me something about him, he’s six right”.

Sansa’s face went into ‘Here we go’ again Arya just knew this wasn’t getting any better. “Yes and I’m afraid the best I can say is that he’s small and painfully thin for his age. He is pale with brown hair and big eyes. He’s not particularly well either, nothing that might kill him, but he’s not robust so his interests are focussed on things like puppetry and songs. I’ve heard he really does enjoy playing ‘Come into my castle’ and because he’s physically weak he’s not really been tutored so he’s not going to challenge you intellectually”.

“I can see it in your face Sansa, I’m getting the good side of the story here. I’m getting a spindly, pigeon chested, potbellied runt with a runny nose”.

“Well actually it’s his eyes not his nose”.

“Anything else”.

“His skins a bit splotchy and” her Sansa paused; Arya could see she was building up to the big one. It couldn’t be a problem between the legs because they obviously wanted to breed from him eventually, what else could be wrong with the child. Sansa finally managed to continue “His mother’s been a bit overprotective, he’s not been weaned”.

The last left Arya speechless; she just slugged back the wine and refilled her glass to take another long pull. “And Bran says it will all work out in the end!”, the force in her voice made her opinion of this view obvious.

“Yes, I was as disbelieving as you obviously are, but he’s insistent that ten or twelve years from now you will be a happy and contented woman and the Starks will have the heir we all need”.

“Well who am I to contradict my brother’s third eye. We might as well get on with it”.

“Good I’m glad you feel that way because he’s here in the castle and the wedding feast is arranged for tomorrow”.

Arya was about to ask how that could happen when she realised her sister’s always expressive face was providing the answer “More third eye I suppose”.

“Yes”.

“Don’t ever play cards for money Sansa”.

\-------------------------------------------------------

So here they were then in the Godswood dressed for a wedding. Slightly unusually Arya had arrived first and refused to go back and await being called when the groom appeared. It wasn’t as though there were many present, it was clear this was if not a clandestine affair a discreet one, presumably to save Arya being stared at by an incredulous collection of Lords. For that at least she was thankful; the image of Gendry stood proud and firm next to an obviously pregnant Meera looking at her pityingly had plagued her last night.

Eventually Lysa brought him out, dressed in the sky blue of the Arryn’s with the eagle badge on his cloak. He was trying to cling to her, but she pushed him down onto his own feet, took his hand and dragged him alongside Arya. His voice was a horrible nasal whine “Mama I don’t want to do this, I’m scared, I’ve heard stories about Arya Stark and she isn’t a nice lady. Mama I don’t want to leave you” and he buried his face in her skirts.

Arya had started the morning with a mixture of cold anger, tinged with a bit of shame and healthy dose of regret about Gendry, or even Sandor for the Old Gods sakes. Slowly it had dissipated until the hour of the wedding, a time it was quite obvious had been set so that a very short meal would be followed by her bedding at the sort of hour a six year old needed to be got to sleep. Now she mostly felt numb, she had no idea of what her life would become and she had no trust in her sibling’s reassurances.

Somehow, despite the whiny tone Arya took a minute to think about the boys words. He could hardly be blamed, he was bound to be spoilt with such an overprotective mother and her reputation in the war was still recent enough not to have mellowed with age. No doubt someone had told him if he didn’t behave Arya would just slit his throat like she had his one-time step father’s.

Somehow something in Arya snapped, everyone round here was so busy thinking about inheritance and allegiance that they’d forgotten about the fact that there were human beings involved. She might not be the most emotional person in the world, but a year in a small space with a limited number of people, following on from her time with Sandor Clegane had made her realise that human interaction was based on care and consideration for others and of the two of them she was not the one who needed protecting.

Arya dropped to her knees and shuffled up behind the boy. Thanks the old Gods for being short, she was pretty much at his head height. She put her hands on his shoulders as gently as she could manage “Hello Robert, I’m Arya”.

Initially she got no response, so she stayed there her hands resting as lightly on his shoulders as she could manage and waited. She lost track of time, she would wait here until he turned round and eventually he did. Sansa was right his eyes were largely and watery and at this moment that wasn’t something disgusting it was just another reason he needed protecting. Arya wasn’t thinking things though here but a massive dose of motherhood was flooding over her. “So Robert, are you going to invite me into your castle in the proper way”. Desperately she tried to remember the proper format of the game in case she needed to prompt him.

Robert gave her a very serious look, “No Lady Arya, we are not at my castle and I cannot invite you into my castle until we are properly married”.

Arya could almost hear the gasp around the group that he had come out with such a useful sentence. “Well then I think you should start playing the game, ‘Marrying Arya Stark’ don’t you. If I stay on my knees you can reach to put the cloak around my shoulders”, and he did, with a little help from Arya and his mother he got her wolf cloak off and placed the eagle one on her shoulders. In other circumstances Arya might have made a comment to her husband at this point about taking the wolf off her but never out of her, but she knew he wouldn’t understand and at this point she wanted the ceremony done. They must have said some words but Arya couldn’t remember later what they were and then they were walking hand in hand back into the keep.

\------------------------------

Arya’s assumptions had been correct; the meal was as small and private as the ceremony and lasted about an hour. No one got drunk, no foul language or suggestive remarks. Having avoided food earlier in the day largely due to her foul temper Arya actually found herself hungry and ate quite heavily. Robert nibbled at a few sweetmeats and then sat back in his chair. Clearly Sansa and his mother were watching him because the meal was brought to a hasty close and people approached to lead them away for the bedding. Once the women were alone Lysa came quickly up to Arya “You don’t have to go through with this. I can go and find him and take him and put him to bed”.

“No I’m his wife now, I’m sure you mean well Lysa, but he _sleeps_ with me”, she’d stressed the word sleeps in case Arryn thought she had any other ideas “He needs to grow up a little bit and this will be an easy way of breaking him of more childish habits”. Lysa looked like she might want to disagree but Arya gave her her best ‘firm’ expression, she hoped it came over as firm and not dangerous.

They’d done the job properly for her, her wedding shift was the very best linen spun so thin it was see through so when the women removed her outer clothes she stood as near naked as made no difference. Somewhere a voice behind her said “What a waste of a beautiful young body” before they put the cloak back round her so she was decent. Then she was processed ceremonially into the bed chamber. Robert was already there between her brother in his chair and some man Arya didn’t know but who was either Lysa’s new husband or her Hand. He too was in his cloak and a shirt of sheer linen. Unusually for a husband he had a stuffed doll in his hand. Arya put her hand out to him “Come husband lets to bed, then we can let all these people go back to the feast while we enjoy a good night’s rest”.

The men got him into his side of the bed, Arya didn’t bother telling them she’d be sleeping on that side once they were gone, and removed his cloak. Then the ladies put her in beside him and removed her marriage cloak. Briefly Arya was aware that her breasts, still in her view very small and not properly grown, breasts were on display. No one however was stopping and neither of the men passed comment. The hangings around the bed were closed and her sister’s voice came from the door. “Sleep well”, the door shut with a heavy thud.

Over the years Arya had heard stories of boys hiding themselves in the bedding room to listen in to the performance behind the curtains, but she thought it unlikely this time so she simply turned to Robert who had sat very still next to her. “So Robert shall we play games or are you ready to go to sleep”.

“What sort of games”.

“Well we could play maidens and monsters, you have to chase me and catch me”.

“I’ve never played that before, I’m not sure I’ve got the energy to chase you, and what would I do if you chased me back”.

“Well let’s just snuggle up for tonight then”. She looked at him as best she could in the half dark of the drawn curtains, he was watching her and his bottom lip was trembling. She took his hands, he didn’t resist “I know this is all very scary for you but I promise to be as good a wife to you as I can. I’m not your Mama but I’m going to try very hard to do anything I can that’s good for you and make you happy”.

His lip was still wobbling.

“So what’s the matter Rob, may I call you Rob, Robert seems very formal”.

By now tears were slipping down his face. His head did manage a nod.

Arya slid over to him and wrapped her arms around his body, gods he was thin there was nothing of him, she kept a firm control on her hug for fear of crushing him.

He stretched his arms round her and looked up into her face, still with tears dripping down his cheeks “I can’t do it”.

“Do what”.

“Bed you properly”, he pushed his doll up against her chest and jiggled him about.

Shit! Arya realised someone had told the kid at least a bit about what he was meant to do in a bed with his wife. “You can do everything I want you to do tonight”.

“No I have to do it properly or we aren’t really married and you can get rid of me any time you like and mama has said I can’t go back to her ever again”. Tears were streaming down his face and there was a hicuppy sob before he buried his face in Arya’s chest .

If Arya could have got hold of whoever had filled him with this rubbish, well technically it wasn’t rubbish it was the law but to her it was rubbish, that person would have been suffering intense pain. “I will never leave you Rob, never and I don’t make promises lightly”. As she said it just for a second she asked herself how true the statement was then she determined it would be true, she would make it true come hell or whatever else. Neither of them had picked this, he couldn’t do anything about it but she could and she was going to.

“I should still try, I’m not a man if I don’t and then I can’t ask you into my castle properly”. The tears had temporarily stopped, but he looked as though they would restart at one more contradiction.

“Well come on then but you have to be gentle with me the first time”.

“I don’t know what to do”.

“Well I’ll show you exactly what I want you to do. I know wives are expected to obey their husbands, but you’re going to have to get used to the idea that at first I’m going to be, let’s say ‘making suggestions’. Now take your shirt off and I shall take my shift off”. 

They both did and his eyes never left her face. Arya lay flat on her back. “Now come and give me a hug and a kiss”.

He lay down on her chest, spread his arms out round her and put his lips to hers, it was a peck like he was saying goodnight to his mother. He looked her in the face again.

Arya was thinking for all she was worth, how much had he been told, what was he thinking he had to do. The last thing she wanted to do was fake something he didn’t understand and frighten him. She put her arm round his body

“Now we rub belly buttons” and gently moved him forward and backward a couple of times the way he’d moved his dolly on her, the way she realised he was still holding it against her; then she gave out her most dramatic sigh “AaaaH” and kissed him briefly. “That will do for the first time; I’m really quite tired after all the fuss and the eating”. The look on his face said he’d fallen for the trick; he smiled at her and slid his body down onto her breast. For one second Arya thought he was going to try and suckle but he turned his head sideways and stuck his thumb in his mouth instead. Arya lay very still and willed herself to relax. She could feel his body on hers, every little detail of elbows and knees and things, she could feel his chest rising and falling, just. His heartbeat was too faint to detect. She felt a small tear slide down her own cheek, he was so small and helpless and it didn’t matter how spoiled he’d been he was with her now and slowly she would make a man of him in every way.

Fuck the lot of them, sitting down stairs drinking and undoubtedly congratulating themselves on the way they’d used both of them. Arya Stark liked nothing better than a fight and a fight they would get. Robert Arryn would be Warden of the East and Defender of the Vale one day and he would father children to succeed to both those titles and to the North at the very least, and Arya Stark would leave a trail of corpses in her wake if anyone opposed them.

On her chest Rob stopped making little sucking sounds on his thumb and looked up at her. She must have been scowling because he scooted back up and gently kissed her on the forehead, just like her father used to. She heard a little voice say “I love you” before he returned to snuggle between her breasts and fall asleep.

\--------------------------------------------

An hour later Sansa’s curiosity got the better of her and she sneaked into the bedchamber. She expected to find Arya sat in the room outside the bed and was all prepared to say she’d come to give her some company. All that she found, when she finally sneaked a look though the curtains, was the married couple, naked and curled round each other asleep.


	2. The morning after the night before

Arya woke as Rob crawled out of her arms and the bed. A splashing sound made plain the reason for his departure. “Did you sleep well my Lord”, he looked at her “or are we to be less formal. My mother and father never used terms like that between themselves; we can just be Rob and Arya”.

“I think that’s better”. He climbed back into the bed, found his shirt and pulled it on and then burrowed under the bedding “It’s cold”.

Arya was perfectly happy with the temperature; her time at sea had not softened a body that was used to a Winterfell winter. “Well I’m getting up and breaking my fast, shall we get you into some warm clothing and you come with me”.

“I’d rather stay here, they can bring food up to me. I think honey comb and lemon cakes would be nice. You should come back after your meal and we'll sleep and kiss and play games, and you can read to me about the winged knight”.

“I have work to do this morning Rob, work to secure your future power as Lord of the Vale and Warden of the East”.

“Must you”

“I’m afraid so”.

“But I can stay here”.

“Today yes, but we will be travelling back to the Eyrie soon, so you will have to get up then”.

“That will be soon enough”.

Arya realised she had no sensible clothing in the room, just her sheer bedding shift and the wedding cloak, so she had no option but to put them on. As she did she could see Rob watching her.

“You have a pretty body”.

“Thank you Rob, not everyone has always said that, so it is good of you to do so”.

“I like a girl with little bouncy boobies”.

Arya paused for a minute, thinking how to respond to that comment, he was only six. Then she remembered her brother Bran going through a phase where everything was ‘boobies’ and ‘willies’, what had her mother said ‘Ignore him he’ll grow out of it’, although Arya couldn’t really remember when Bran had grown out of it. Come to that, there were grown men she knew who didn’t seem to have grown out of an obsession with boobies. “Well now you are my husband I shall not expect you to be telling other girls that, that would not be how a married lord behaves”. She had put a stern voice on and when she looked round she realised he was looking at her and his bottom lip was trembling. She got the cloak round her shoulders and went over to him and gave him a hug, “but it’s nice of you to tell me”. This was going to be water dancing on a yardarm in a gale, he went from petulant to frightened in seconds. “Right, well if you’re staying there snuggle up and I’ll get the food sent up”.

She walked out the door and found a serving girl in the solar laying out food. She grabbed a handful of items for herself so she could eat and walk and turned to the girl. “You’ll have to take some into him, try and make sure he doesn’t get honey on the bedding. Oh and use that cloth as a kerchief and put it over your breasts before you go in”. As she walked out in search of some proper clothing she wondered how soon it would be before she would start to sound just like her mother, or worse still Septa Mordane.


	3. Princess to Eagle one

Arya Stark walked into the King’s council chamber the morning after her wedding. They were all there, her brother with Podrick stood behind him, Tyrion Lannister, Davos Seaworth, Bronn, Brienne of Tarth.

“Good morning Bran”.

Bronn responded, “It’s good morning Milord and you should curtsey”.

Arya ignored him and looked at her brother, he had that sickly, ‘I know everything you know’ look on him again, that she found so irritating. She couldn’t help wondering if one day he wouldn’t look so smug because the third eye had told him that today’s the day Arya loses her temper and smashes her fist into his face, but since he looked smug today she obviously wasn’t going to do it today. Besides she had an objective today, but Bran got in first.

“Did you sleep well Arya”

“I slept exceedingly well thank you Bran, Rob makes a delightful little bed warmer, I’m sure he’ll be even better in the winter when it’s cold”.

“Do you feel you have business with the council”.

“I am her to _petition_ ” she stressed the last word “for the hereditary titles of the Arryn’s to be returned to my husband under my wardship. It is clearly part of the plan otherwise I would not have been set up to breed with him”.

Bronn spoke up “In the long term, depending on how young Robert”.

Arya cut him short “That’s Lord Arryn to you”.

“As I was saying, in the long term it might be considered”.

“And who is to hold the titles over my husband’s lands and powers and therefore over me for now then. Baeylish is, I believe, no longer available for the role and I’d hate to think that the next person to take on the task misunderstood their powers and responsibilities”. She turned to Bronn, “Maybe this is a role you have volunteered for”.

The King spoke up “Arya has posed a good question, do we have a volunteer to rule the Vale and keep her in order. The old gods know my parents couldn’t manage it and she wasn’t ten years old then. I am open to suggestions, Ser Brienne”.

Brienne’s mind went back to a day at Winterfell, besides she liked Arya, the kingdom needed more than one woman in a position or power, “I am quite happy to transfer the powers of Lord of the Vale and Warden of the East to the Princess Arya until Lord Arryn comes of age”.

“And what happens if he doesn’t. I’m not suggesting anything improper, but he is not a fit and healthy boy”.

“As ever Davos you ask a pertinent question, if he were to die before being active enough to generate an heir, who would have the Eyrie”. Tyrion looked at Arya “Please don’t take this personally but some Lords might consider the Starks in charge of the Eyrie long term would be one title too far”. 

“I have no desire to hold the title one day longer than I need to hold it for my husband. Should what you describe happen I will relinquish the titles to whoever you choose”.

“Ah you say that now, but people get used to power”.

“Are you saying you don’t trust my word Bronn, do you have any evidence to suggest you have past experience of me not keeping my word. Let me think” and Arya stared at the ceiling as if musing. “Walder Frey, Meryn Trant, Polliver, Rorge. Of course sometimes others get to people before me, but that doesn’t make it an example of my word not being my bond”.

“Are you trying to threaten me girl”.

“No I’m just making an observation, now if I put your name on my list, that would be threatening you, but the House of Black and White taught me sometimes it’s best not to advertise one’s next action”.

That reminder brought silence into the room. Tyrion coughed rather deliberately “Well since we have no other volunteers for the role in the room, nor any suggestions for an outsider I believe that is the matter closed. How is young Lord Arryn this morning”.

“Well thank you, eating a hearty breakfast, I must have tired him out last night” and Arya walked out of the room.

“Well gentleman, as I said she is not easy to control. Don’t take it to heart Bronn, I don’t _think_ she’s that bothered about you. Ser Podrick we shall leave now, Good morning gentlemen”. There was the usual chorus of “Good morning Milord” as Podrick wheeled Bran back out.


	4. Something’s come up

So the years passed and one morning Arya woke up to feel something firm wedged between her body and that of her husband. She rolled away from him and then turned herself round. Yes quite clearly that was an erect male member and while nowhere near the largest she’d ever seen, neither was it the member of a child.

Rob had opened his eyes and was looking at her looking at him. “Do you like it Arya, is it big enough for me to really become your husband”.

Arya was struck by conflicting emotions, the simple answer was yes, what was bouncing in front of her as he knelt up on the mattress, was clearly big enough to fit inside her and since it was a lot longer than she would have liked since a man had done that the idea was quite welcome. In addition her baby had grown up, she might not have birthed Rob Aryyn but she had put a lot of work into turning a sickly child into a young man and in at least one respect she had succeeded. Now however the thing she had cheerfully been unworried by since that one night before the Battle of Winterfell was back in front of her mind. She was about to start the work of becoming exactly what she had never wanted to become, a broodmare for a lord, a babymaking machine.

The pause and the look of uncertainty must have been written on her face because Rob moved towards her “Is it not big enough yet, it’s not is it, you expect something thicker, I’ve seen other older boys and they are thicker than me”. 

She moved closer to him, held him pressed him to her. “No Rob it is big enough for you to start and it will get thicker as you get older”.

“Then what is it, it had no nasty warts or other things on it to disgust you”.

“I’m scared”.

He sat back with a look of disbelief “Arya nothing scares you, you are making this up. It has to be because it’s too small. Well I will wait until it is bigger then, I can wait I’m not a petulant spoiled child any more” and it was true he wasn’t, well no more than all the young are a little spoiled and petulant.

“It is not too small Rob, I spent years worrying my breasts were too small, I’ll not have you worrying about the size of your manhood”.

“Well what is it then, are we not man and wife, we should have no secrets, you have told me that often and I have tried to live up to it even when it mean admitting I’ve done something silly”.

“And you have done so very well so yes I have to be honest with you. I am not scared of having sex with you, in fact I’m quite looking forward to it, I’m frightened of what comes next, of getting pregnant”.

“Is this because you are tiny and you think it will hurt. Lady Reed is no bigger than you and she has three very large boys”. It was true, Meera was not an inch taller than Arya and no heavier built and she had given Gendry three sons, none of whom could be described as a delicate child.

“No, what frightens me is having to look after a child who is totally dependent on me, all day every day for many years”.

Rob came across the bed and took his wife in his arms. Arya couldn’t help noticing that it wasn’t just his virile member that had grown, it was a firm hug he gave her. “Now who’s being silly and childish, you have been looking after me for many years and you have not left me with nursemaids, you have looked after me, wiped up the mess and the tears, cleaned the scrapes and scratches. I know you will be a wonderful mother, because although you are my wife you have mothered me as well”.

Arya could feel tears on her cheek, she started to wipe one away and Rob leaned in and kissed her cheek and flicked his tongue to remove another. “Some days Robert Arryn I don’t know what I did to deserve you”.

He straightened again “I’ve been told it was the price you had to pay for sailing round the world and letting Lady Meera getting to Lord Baratheon before you. Now I really must insist, it is starting to throb and feel strained. I don’t want to hurt you, so lay down and show me exactly where it goes, please”.

Well he had said please, so Arya Stark gave up on her dreams of a wild life of adventure and lay back and thought of Westeros.

It was, as is inevitable for a young man’s first time, not a long thought. He lay beside her panting slightly and staring at the tester on the four poster bed; she rolled over and draped herself across one side of his body. “Was that good then”.

“Very good, when can we do it again”.

“You tell me, you’re the one in possession of the lance. You’ve had a tilt and shattered this one, how long it will take you to ride back and get another so to speak, we’ll find out”.

“Let’s not do jousting metaphors, you know I’m crap at riding let alone jousting. I want to be a bit better at this, whatever we’re going to call it”.

“Well when I was younger I’d have called it fucking, but funnily now I’m older that seems quite crude. I’ve never been romantic about it so we’re not making love. We’ll find a name, it‘ll come, but no more jousting comparisons”.

Rob’s voice changed tone slightly and instinctively Arya knew they were heading back into waters labelled, insecurity. “The other question has to be did you enjoy it”.

“Well It didn’t hurt, you bothered to get yourself in the right place and when you finished you didn’t just flop on me and stop me breathing and I was pleased you were enjoying yourself”.

“I can hear a but, you’re trying not to say it, no secrets remember”.

“No secrets then; you were too fast for me to enjoy it. A woman just takes longer than a man and particularly an overexcited young man for his first time”.

“Sorry”.

“Don’t be, we’ve lots more times in front of us, you won’t be as quick and you’ll learn what to do to so that I’m ready”.

“So what should I do”.

Arya took his hand and showed him and part way through the showing, as it became obvious he was getting it right, it also became obvious that he was ready for a second time.

This time they both lay there panting. “Was that better”

“Yes”.

“A lot”.

“Immeasurably”.

“So I got it right”

“Oh yes, I’ve been waiting for that since our wedding night”.

Rob rolled over and put himself back on top of her, carefully he rubbed his stomach against hers a couple of times.

“Yes, it doesn’t really compare does it. Are you blushing”.

Arya could feel the heat in her face “I appear to be. You remember our wedding night”.

“Yes, you must have been really confused how to cope with me”.

“It wasn’t the easiest night of my life; you were six, a child and a rather immature one. I didn’t want to do anything, but you’d got this idea you had to or we weren’t really married. My biggest worry was that you’d try and suckle”.

“Mother spent all day telling me if I did you’d throw me out of the bed and never speak to me again; and you know I was right. In law this morning you could have got out of bed and walked away and short of chasing you across the Eyrie and pinning you to the floor I could have been unwed by lunch time”.

“Well I might have had a bit of a problem. You know we say no secrets, well I’m going to argue it wasn’t a secret because you didn’t ask but there’s something I haven’t told you that I think you should know now”. I watched his face fall; “It was a long time ago during the war and it was only once, but I’m not a virgin so you could have claimed you’d done it and I couldn’t prove otherwise”, the worried look disappeared and was replaced by a wide grin.

“You really know how to frighten me. I thought you were going to tell me about the castellan or that big strapping boy in the stables. I don’t care about what you did when I was still sucking my mother’s teat; in fact it shows how much you love me that you’ve waited so long. I don’t think I could have”.

“That’s just because I’m an old lady”.

“Don’t be silly, you’re actually only a few years older than me, by the time we’ve got grandchildren no one will notice”.

I did some maths, he was right. I wasn’t sure which had been the scary bit about our wedding night, how young he was to be there at all or how young I was to have mothered him.


	5. 1 + 1 = 3

We were studying the tester of the bed again. We seemed to have a done a lot of this in the last few weeks. It was a very ornately carved tester, and the grain of the wood was visible as well as the carving, but I think we’d had time to pretty well get every last little curve fixed in our minds. Well we should have had, but for the fact we spent far too much time gasping for breath and occasionally laughing to concentrate on the woodwork.

I let my mind wander back to that first morning a few weeks ago and it was only a few weeks ago. Parents always say children grow up too fast, but the change in Rob was surprising, whether what we’d been doing had speeded the process up, or whether it really did happen that fast to all boys I didn’t know, but he’d put on weight, he was still thin but he didn’t look like the wind would blow him away any more and some things had grown out of all proportion. The first few times it had been obvious we’d been having a dry run, but now I was mopping up afterwards.

“Arya how long is it, since we started”.

“I’m not timing you, as long as we both get to enjoy ourselves how long doesn’t matter”.

“No silly, not the last time, the lot, since I first waved it at you and you decided I was grown up enough to use it properly”.

I lay back and used my fingers “About six weeks”.

“Then at some point we should have stopped for a few days, I’d not want to force you if it was messy”.

“You don’t need to worry about that I’m not squeamish, it might make a bit of a mess, but it won’t hurt or anything”.

“No you don’t get my point, six weeks and we haven’t stopped because something hasn’t happened”.

Well that proved I must have been enjoying myself, six weeks and I’d not noticed. Once upon a time I’d been a bit irregular, lack of food, stress and things, but a few years in the Eyrie enjoying the fat of land had made me a four week girl, so “Well something has happened, just not what we might have expected after four weeks, which means you’ve got about another thirty-five weeks before I throw you out of my bed screaming ‘Never again you bastard’ and throwing things at you”. His face fell again, but I was getting less worried these days, lots of sex seemed to have improved his self-confidence immensely “Don’t fret, like I said you’ve thirty five weeks before that happens”.

He leaned in close and whispered in my ear “Only if you’re a really really good boy and I’d keep quiet about it because some people will think that’s a bit weird”.

Afterward 

Arya Stark’s first child was a girl called Catelyn. The men of the Vale weren’t ready for a Queen so, aged ten, she was fostered to her Aunt Sansa and prepared to rule the North.

Arya’s second child was a girl called Lysa. The men of the Vale still weren’t ready for a queen so she learned to sail and sailed away to find what lay South of Braavos and Essos.

Arya’s third child was a boy called Jon. He took after his father and was a rather thin sickly child. Arya reminded the men of the Vale that his father had once been the same and in honesty was still not a large man unless he stood next to his wife. As a precaution she selected his wife quite carefully. Westeros was a calmer place than it had been thirty years before and the daughters of the Lords were mostly, in Arya’s opinion, pampered fluffy little things; so she went North of The Wall and found him a Wildling girl, a large strapping redhead. When Jon complained about his mother’s choice his father sat him down and explained a bit of family history he’d not previously been told. The wedding went without a hitch.


End file.
